When I was growing up, a whistle outside on the street meant one of the friends is calling, and it was time for us to play. For me and a bunch of my friends, it was a great escape from school homework and a reason to gather and hoot! On one particular evening, one of my friend's father narrated us the story from Dr Ambedkar’s early life. He told us how during his growing years his family was denied everyday necessary commodities based on caste discrimination. His family was very poor and oppressed, and they did not have anything in abundance. There were many evenings that there was not enough oil to even light the lamp. What Ambedkar had in abundance though was his will power. So he sat under the moonlight and studied to become the father of our Indian Constitution. Me and my friends were all charged up and inspired by this story.
The next evening when we got our signal all rushed to the street. One boy showed up with his books to sit under the moonlight. It wasn't about his willingness to read. It was the assumption that if he too sits under the moonlight and study, he would grow to become someone big and famous. Obviously he was to be picked upon by the other kids!
Experience is a good way to learn from. But it also is contextual. Trying to relive Ambedkar's experience will not take us anywhere. But being with the experience of his struggles and his persistence and patience will teach us a lot! Often, we try to recreate the experience in its content, and we leave aside the essence. Being in experience is about being with the essence and learning from that.
Trying to relive Ambedkar's experience will not take us anywhere. But being with the experience of his struggles and his persistence and patience will teach us a lot!
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